Vaccination linked to better kidney outcomes in hospitalized COVID-19 patients

Vaccination linked to better kidney outcomes in hospitalized COVID-19 patients

Vaccinated patients hospitalized with Covid-19 who developed acute kidney injury had better outcomes than unvaccinated patients with the same condition, new research suggests. The study found that vaccinated patients were less likely to remain on dialysis after discharge and were more likely to survive than unvaccinated patients.

Acute kidney injury, or AKI, is common in people infected with Covid-19, with rates as high as 46%. It may cause a slight decrease in kidney function or require dialysis. However, the long-term renal and survival outcomes of these patients have not been well understood.

The findings, scheduled to be published June 13 in the peer-reviewed journalKidney medicinesuggest that COVID-19 vaccination may reduce long-term decline and mortality risk, said senior author Dr. Niloofar Nobakht, clinical associate professor of medicine in the division of nephrology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.

The COVID-19 vaccine is an important intervention that can reduce the likelihood of complications from COVID-19 infection in patients hospitalized with acute kidney injury. It is important that individuals discuss the benefits of vaccination for Covid-19 with their doctors as it can reduce the likelihood of dialysis, which can severely impact patients' quality of life and lead to further complications including death. “

Dr. Niloofar Nobakht, Health Sciences Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine, Department of Nephrology, David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA

Researchers analyzed about 3,500 patients hospitalized with Covid-19 between March 1, 2020 and March 30, 2022. Of these patients, 972 developed acute kidney injury, with 411 (42.3%) unvaccinated and 467 (48%) having received at least two doses of the PFIZER or Moderna MRNA Vaccine or one dose of Johnson and one dose of Johnson and one dose of Johnson and one dose of Johnson and one dose of Johnson and one dose of Johnson and Johnson's Vaccine or one dose of Johnson and one dose of Johnson and Johnson's Vaccine.

They found that 65 (15.8%) unvaccinated patients were more likely to require a type of dialysis for critically ill patients called continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) than 51 (10.9%) vaccinated patients.

In addition, they found that unvaccinated patients were 2.56 times more likely to require CRRT after discharge from hospitals, 5.54 times more likely to die in hospital, and 4.78 times more likely to die during long-term follow-up compared to vaccinated patients.

Among the study's limitations, researchers lacked baseline creatinine data, which may have contributed to the difference in AKI between the vaccinated and unvaccinated patients. It also lacked data on the severity of Covid-19 disease, although they noted that patients were all sick enough to require hospitalization. They also did not include the effects of booster vaccinations.

“This study also highlights the importance of the need for further research to understand how CoVID-19 infections affect the kidney and how we should manage and monitor kidney complications of Covid-19 infections to improve patient outcomes,” Nobakht said.

Co-authors are Dr. Charley Jang, Tristan Grogan, Dr. Peter Fahim, Dr. Ira Kurtz, Dr. Joanna Schaenman, Dr. James Wilson and Dr. Mohammad Kamgar of UCLA.

The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health's National Center for Advance Transfer Sciences (NCATs) under the UCLA Clinical and Translational Science Institute (UL1TR001881).

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